Railway braking apparatus



July 27, 1965 G. T. RowE ETAL RAILWAY BRAKING APPARATUS.

Filed Jan. 16, 1965 United States Patent O 3,196,985 RAHJWAY BNGAPPARATUS Gerwyn Trevelyan Rowe, Geraid Albert Whittard, and ArthurWilliam Melhuish, London, England, assignors to Westinghouse Brake andSignal Company, Limited, London, England Filed lan. 16, 1963, Ser. No.251,818 Claims priority, application Great Britain, dan. 24, 1962,2,644/ 62 Claims. (Cl. 13S-62) Our invention relates to railway brakingapparatus, and particularly to braking apparatus of the type comprisingwheel engaging braking bars extending parallel to the rails of a railwaytrack and movable upwardly toward and downwardly away from the railsinto braking and nonbraking positions. More particularly, our inventionrelates to improvements in apparatus of the type described in which thebraking bars are arranged to be moved to their braking positions bymeans of a fluid pressure operated motor or motors, and to be restoredto their nonbraking positions by suitable biasing means such as gravity.

The present invention relates to power braking apparatus of the typewhich may be used as hump car retarders located on the entrance track ashort distance ol the hump or other car retarders, commonly known asgroup car retarders, which are located at various points in approach toclassification tracks to control the speed of rolling cars as theyapproach their destinations in the various classification tracks of acar classification yard. As in most car retarders of the track braketppe, brake beams are disposed end to end at both sides of the trackrail, and an operating unit is provided at each point where the ends ofthe brake beams are adjoining `and also at each extreme end of the carretarder. The operating -units may be disposed in the conventionalmanner between two of the cross ties and spaced, for example, everythird tie. Further, the braking apparatus can be larranged as either asingleV or double-rail retarder and made to any desired length. Inaddition, the entire braking apparatus is universal i-n application;that is, the operating units, which are simple self-containedinterchangeable units, the remaining parts and even the completeretarder assembly may be applied by either a right-hand or lefthand railwithout change.

As is well established, the most effective braking in a track type carwheel braking apparatus occurs when the braking force is applied at arelatively high point on the sides of the car wheels. Further, as iswell known, it is advantageous to position the braking bars relativelylow with respect to the track rail and also to open the braking barsrelative to each other as much as possible during nonbraking conditions.ln the past, various schemes and arrangements have been designed foraccomplishing the above-mentioned advantageous features. For example',Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,868,493, granted to H. C.Clausen, on July 26, 1932, illustrates and describes a two point fulcrumarrangement for raising and lowering the braking bars as they move froma braking to a non-braking position, while the Letters Patent of theUnited States No. 2,089,823, granted to H. L. Bone, on

August l0, 1937, illustrates and describes a link arrange- Patented July27, 1965 a novel and improved railway braking apparatus of the typedescribed y Another object of our invention is the provision of a novellever pivotal arrangement which permits the braking bars to rest lowerrelative to the rail and to open wider relative to each other duringnonbraking conditions so that damage to the braking apparatus due torailway vehicle carried equipment is considerably lessened.

Another object of our invention is the provision of a railway brakingapparatus having a novel three point pivotal lever arrangement whichpermits a greater degree of braking bar lifting than heretoforepossible.

We will describe one form of railway braking apparatus embodying ourinvention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in theappended claims.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent froma consideration of the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings where:

FIG. l is a plan view showing an operating unit for the brakingapparatus embodying our invention.

FIG.- 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the lineIl-llof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary topplan viewv showing one form of the brakingapparatus embodying our invention.

Generally, the objects of our invention are achieved by providing arailway braking apparatus or car retarder having braking bars which Varemoved into and out of engagement with Vwheels of a railway car forcontrolling the speed thereof. Each braking bar extends parallel to thetrack rail and consists of a plurality of brake beams, secured togetherbymeans of replaceable brake shoes. The braking bars are adapted to moverelative to the track rail into braking and non-braking positions,andfor this purpose a plurality of independent operating units arepreselectively spaced at regular intervals along the parallelextending-braking bars. Each of the operating units is alike andconsists of a pair of levers uidly actuated for pivital movement Vabouta common fulcrum. This pivotal movement about the common fulcrum causesthe braking bars carried by the levers to move toward and away from eachother as the iiuid actuated motor attached `to thelever arms isenergized and deenergized, respectively. A second fulcrum located vatthe end remote from the actuating motor pivotally supports one of thelevers for relative rotation thereabout. A third fulcrum locatedintermediate kthe ends of the other lever pivotally supports it forrelative rotation thereabout. The-third fulcrurn is arranged as a -pivotpoint and a rol-ler bearing assembly so that a rotational and a lateralmovement is imparted to the latter lever. Upon application of fluidpressure to the viiuid actuating motorV the braking bars undergo anelevating and a closing movement due tothe lever supporting fulcrumarrangement, and then upon Iventing of the fluid motor to the atmospheregravity acts to lower and open the braking bars to their normalretracted position.

Referring to Ithe drawings, the reference character 15 designates onetrack rail of a stretch of railway, which track rail may be mounted andsecured to conventional rail supports fastened to cross-ties inthe usualand well'- known manner. Extending parallel to the rail 15 on oppositesides of the'rail are two braking bars 10a and ltlb, each braking barcomprising a plurality of brake beams 11 disposed end-to-end and securedtogether by means of replaceable brake shoes 14. As shown in FIG. 3, aplurality of similar operating units is spaced at predeterminedintervals along the braking bars and is adapted to move the braking barstoward and away from rail 1S into braking and nonbraking positions.

With reference to the drawings, and particularly to 3 FIGS. 2 and 3, itis noted that a single operating unit is illustrated, this being yforthe sake of simplicity since all the operating units are identical and adescription of one will therefore suice for all. VThis `operating unitcomprisesA an upper bifurcated lever 1 and a lower lever 3 positionedbetween the bifurcations of lever 1. A pivot pin 4 cooperates withreinforced bea-ring apertures located intermediate the ends of bothlevers to rotatably support these levers in pivotal relation to eachother. vThe leverr 1 is inclined upwardly and extends away from the rail15, and is provided adjacent the rail with a flat .surface 1a whichsupports the braking bar 10a. The other bifurcated end 1b of lever 1 isrotatably mounted about a fulcrum in the form of stationary journalsupport assembly 2a having shafts 2 and which may be securely fastenedto convenient bearing plates V2b mounted on adjacent pairs of crosstes.The one end 3a of lever 3 'is likewise inclined upwardly and extendsaway from rail 15 at the opposite side of the rail from the bifurcatedarms of lever 1, and the other end 3b of the lever 3 is inclineddownwardly and extends away from the rail 15 below the bifurcated'armsof lever 1. The end 3a of ,fthe lever 3V is provided adjacent the railwith a at surface 3c, similar to the surface 1a, for supporting thebraking bar b. Ashere shown, the Itwo braking bars V10a and 10b arefastened toY the levers in an identical manner, and therefore adescription of one is believed suflicient for a clear understandingthereof. Referring to braking bar 10b, the brake beams 11 are all alike,and each brake beam spans the space between two adjacent operatingunits and is disposed with its opposite ends resting on the flat surfaceportions 3c of the lever 3 of adjacent operating units in such a mannerthat the beam is free to slide toward and away from the rail on thesesurfaces. Provided on each end of each beam at the farthest side fromthe rail is a retracting lug 11a. The two lugs 11a on the confrontingends of adjacent beams hookaround the ends of thrust block 13 toposition the Abrake beams inl proper braking position laterlally withrespect to the rail. Vertical movement of the Vbrake beam 11 withrespect to the associated lever at the edge nearest the rail is limitedto a predetermined amount by integrally formed hold-down lugs 11bprovided on each end of each adjacent brake beam 11. These hold-downlugs 11b cooperate with outwardly extending lever lugs formed on datsurface 3c of the lever 3 Vto limit vertical movement of the braking bar10b. Each thrust block 13 is xedly secured to the levers by suitablemounting bolts and shims may be disposed onthe thrust block mountingbolts to provide a lateral Vadjustment for compensating for brake shoeVwear. An additionalfulcrum in the form of a roller bearing 5 is locatedintermediate the common fulcrum pin 4 and end 3 b of lever 3 lwhichfulcrum cooperates with a bearing plate 6 suitably mounted to adjacentpairs of crosstes for pivotally, supporting the lever 3. 'I'his rollerbearing andbearing Aplate arrangement permits the lever 3 to rotate aswell as'move laterally with respect to the rail 15 in a manner whichwill be described in detail hereinafter. Y

YThe parts are so arranged and so proportioned that when the'outer orfree ends of the levers 1 and 3 are moved apart, the braking bars willbe moved upwardly and toward the rail to the effective or brakingposition in'which the brakeshoes 14 assume positions partially shown bythe dashedV lines in FIG. V2, whereby they will engage the oppositesides ofthe wheel of.a car traversing Vrail. 15 and will retard thespeed of the car. The center of gravity'pof the lever 1 and the brakingbar 10a is considerably to the left of pivot pin 4, as seen from aninspection of FIG. `2, so that this lever will normallytend to swing inYa counterclockwise direction relative to pivot pin 4. Similarly, thecenter of gravity of the lever 3 and braking bar 10b is to the right ofpivot pin 4, as viewed in FIG. .2, so that this lever will normally tendto swing in a clockwise direction relative to pivot pin 4. It will beapparent, therefore, that when no force is applied to lthe free ends ofthe levers 1 and 3 to move them apart, the free ends of the levers willmove toward each other, thereby moving the braking bars downwardly andaway from the rail to their open or ineffective position as shown inFIG. 2.

The levers 1 and 3 are arranged to be moved apart by means of aconventional uid pressure motor 7 comprising a cylinder 7a containing apiston 7b with'an attached piston rod 7c. The cylinder 7a is pivotallyconnected with the free bifurcated end of lever 1 by means of a pivotpin 9, while the piston rod 7c is connected at its free end with thefree end 3b of lever 3 by means of a pivot pin 8. Y

Fluid pressure may be admitted to the cylinder 7a through an openingwhich is threaded `to receive pipe 16. In operation, when fluid pressureis admitted to the cylinder, a downward force is exerted on the piston7b and an upward force is exerted on the cylinder, thereby separatingthe arms of the levers 1 and 3. As the arms of :the levers 1 and 3 moveapart, each lever swings independently about its separate fulcrum androtates relative to one another about the common pivot pin or fu1 crum.That is, as the lever arms separate, lever 1 swings in a clockwisedirection about journal 2 and lever 3 swings -in a `counterclockwisedirection about roller bearing 5. At the same time, the levers rotaterelative to eachother about the common pivot pin 4, and additionally, alateral movement exists between the roller 5 carried by lever 3 andthebearing plate 6 which moves the lever 3 relative to the rail 15. Due tothe reaction of roller 5 on the plate 6, the upper lever 1 rotates aboutthe fulcrum 2 and this action raises the common fulcrum` 4 and causesthe lower lever 3 and hence braking shoes 14 to move in arcs to lift thebrake shoes and close the gap between the two brake shoes, therebyimparting the required braking force to Ya car wheel running along therail 15. This interrelation of movement between the different fulcrumpoints causes the braking bars carried by the levers to be moved towardthe car wheel and also moved upwardly a considerable distance abovetheir vnormal positions, thereby allowing the brake shoes to engage -thecar Wheel at the side surfaces well above the wheel tread. When thelevers 1 and 3 have been moved apart by admitting pressure to the motor7 in the manner just described, and the cylinder 7a is subsequentlydisconnected from the source of pressure and is vented to atmosphere,the free ends of the levers 1 and 3 will move toward eachother under theinfluence of gravity in vthe manner previously described. During thismovement the operation is merely the reverse of fthe braking process andlateral movement of the roller bearing 5 is in a direction away fromrail 15. Y Y

As is readily apparent, our novel fulcrum lever arrangement accomplishesthe braking bar raising effect and the wide spacing of the braking barsin their nonbraking position with a relatively short stroke pistonmotor. Further, it will be readily understood that the amount of brakingbar raising and -the relative spacing between the braking bars isdetermined by thefulcrum point placement and the length of the levers,so that any desirable amount of raising and spacing of the braking barsmay be acquired by merely shifting the fulcrum points or changing thevdimensions of the levers.

While our invention has been described with reference to a particularembodiment thereof, it will be understood that various modifications maybe made by those skilled in the art without departing from theinvention. The appended claims are therefore intended to cover all suchmodifications within the trueY spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

I 1. Railway braking apparatus comprising two levers pivoted about afirst fulcrum located beneath a track rail, a second tixed fulcrumsecurely fastened relative to and on one side of said rail for pivotallysupporting one of said levers, a third fulcrum located on the other sideof said rail for pivotally supporting the other of said levers, abraking bar located on each side of said rail and supported by saidlevers, and a motor connected to and supported by said levers forforcing each braking bar upwardly and toward said rail.

2. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars disposed onopposite sides of a track rail, two levers one for supporting each ofsaid braking bars, said levers being pivoted about a iirst commonfulcrum disposed beneathsaid rail, one of said levers being additionallypivoted and lixedly supported with respect to said rail about a secondfulcrum located at one end of said one lever, the other of said leversbeing additionally pivoted and supported about a third fulcrum locatedintermediate the ends of said other lever, and motor means supported bysaid levers for moving said braking bars upwardly and toward said railinto an effective braking position.

3. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars extendingparallel to a track rail on opposite sides of the rail, said brakingbars comprising a plurality of brake beams aligned in end to endrelation and brake shoes attached to said brake beams, a plurality ofoperating units disposed at intervals along said rail for supportingsaid braking bars, each operating unit comprising two levers pivotedabout a first fulcrum positioned below the rail, a second fixed ulcrumpositioned on one side of said rail for pivotally supporting one of saidlevers, a third fulcrum positioned on the other side of said rail forpivotally supporting the other of said levers, a duid motor attached toand carried by said levers for raising and laterally moving said brakingbars toward the rail into a braking condition, and the parts being soproportioned that gravity biases the levers for lowering and laterallymoving said braking bars away from the rail into a nonbraking condition.

4. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars extendingparallel to a track rail on opposite sides of the rail, said brakingbars comprising a plurality of aligned brake beams and brake shoesattached to said brake beams, a plurality of iluid pressure operatingunits spaced at predetermined intervals along the rail for supportingsaid braking bars, each iluid pressure operating unit comprising twolevers pivoted about a tirst common fulcrum positioned below the rail,one of said levers being additionally pivoted and xedly supported withrespect to said rail about a second fulcrum located at one end of saidone lever, the other of said levers being additionally pivoted andsupported about a third fulcrum located intermediate the ends of saidother lever, and a fluid motor attached to and carried by said leversfor raising and laterally moving said braking bars toward the railwherein said brake shoes engage the sides of a car wheel traversing therail.

5. Railway braking apparatus comprising a pair of braking bars locatedon opposite sides of a track rail, a pair of levers one for supportingeach of said braking bars, a pivot pin disposed beneath the rail forinterconnecting said levers for relative rotational movement thereabout,a journal assembly xedly secured on one side of the rail for supportingone of said levers, a roller bearing fastened to said other lever andcooperating with a bearing plate xedly secured on the other side of therail for supporting said other lever, and a fluid motor connected to andsupported by said levers for moving each braking bar upwardly and towardthe rail.

6. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars extendingparallel to a track rail and movable upwardly toward and downwardly awayfrom the rail into braking and nonbraking positions, two levers one forsupporting each of said braking bars, said levers being pivoted about apivot pin disposed beneath the rail, one

6, of said levers being additionally pivoted and supported about ajournal assembly means disposed on one side of the rail, the other ofsaid levers being additionally pivoted and supported about a -rollerbearing means disposed on the other side of the rail, the parts being soproportioned that the braking bars are normally gravity biaseddownwardly away from the rail into the nonbraking position, and a uidpressure means connected to said levers for moving the braking barsupwardly toward the rail into the braking position.

7. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars disposed besidea track rail and adapted to be moved upwardly toward and downwardly awayfrom the rail into braking and nonbraking conditions, a rst and a secondlever for supporting said braking bars, said levers being pivoted abouta pivot point located intermediate their ends, said rst lever beingadditionally pivoted at one end about a irst pivotal support disposed onone side of the rail, said second lever being additionally pivotedintermediate its end about a second pivotal support disposed on theother side of said rail, a uid pressure motor attached to the other endof said rst lever and said one end of said second lever for actuatingsaid braking bars upwardly and toward the rail into engagement with thesides of a car wheel traversing the rail during the braking condition,and the parts being so proportioned that the braking bars are moveddownwardly and away from the rail into the nonbraking condition upondeactuation of said uid pressure motor.

8. Railway braking apparatus Comprising two braking bars extendingparallel to a track rail on opposite sides of the rail, said brakingbars comprising a plurality of brake beams aligned in end to endrelation and brake shoes attached to said brake beams, a plurality ofoperating units disposed at intervals along said rail for supporting-said braking bars, each operating unit comprising a rst and a secondlever pivoted intermediate their ends about a pivot pin positioned belowthe rail, a journal assembly positioned on one side of said rail forpivotally supporting one end of said first lever, a roller bearingarrangement positioned on the other side of said rail for pivotallysupporting said second lever intermediate said pivot pin and one of itsends, a fluid motor attached to and carried by the other end of saidlirst lever and the one end of said second lever for raising andlaterally moving said braking bars toward the rail and into engagementwith the sides of a car Wheel traversing the rail, and biasing means forlowering and laterally moving said braking bar-s away from the railafter passage of said car wheel.

9. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars extendingparallel to a track rail on opposite sides of the rail, said brakingbars comprising a plurality of aligned brake beams and brake shoesattached to said brake beams, a plurality of iluid pressure operatingunits spaced at predetermined intervals along the rail for supportingsaid braking bars, each fluid pressure operating unit comprising a firstand a second lever pivoted about a pivot pin disposed beneath the rail,said-rst lever being additionally pivoted and supported about a journalassembly means located at one end of said rst lever, said second leverbeing additionally pivoted and supported about a roller bearing meanslocated intermediate the ends of said other lever, and a iluid motorattached to and carried by said levers for raising and laterally movingsaid braking bars toward the rail wherein said brake shoes engage thesides of a car wheel traversing the rail, and the parts being soproportioned that said levers are baised by gravity for lowering andlaterally moving said braking bars away from the rail after passage ofthe car wheel.

10. Railway braking apparatus comprising two braking bars extendingparallel to a track rail and movable upwardly toward and downwardly awayfrom the rail into braking and nonbraking positions, a plurality of luidpressure operating units disposed at intervals along the rail, each saidfluid operating unit comprising a rst and a second lever one forsupporting each of said braking bars, said levers being pivotal-1ymounted for rotation intermediate their ends about a pivot pin disposedbeneath the rail, said rst lever being additionally pivotally mountedfor rotation at one of its ends about a journal assembly means securelyfastened 011 one side of the rail, said second lever being additionallypivotally mounted for rotation and `lateral movement intermediate itsone end and said pivot pin on a roller bearing means disposed on theother side of the rail, said operating units being so proportioned thatthe braking bars are normally gravity biased downwardly away from therail into the :nonbraking position and a uid pressure motor 8. meansconnected to the other endof said rst :lever andsaid one end of saidsecond lever for moving the braking bars upwardly toward the rail intothe braking position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,345,488 3/44Logan' 18a-s2 L2,55992 7/51 Bone 18s-62 FOREIGN PATENTS 694,212 7/53Great Britain.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

DUANE A. REGER, Examiner.

1. RAILWAY BRAKING APPARATUS COMPRISING TWO LEVERS PIVOTED ABOUT A FIRSTFULCRUM LOCATED BENEATH A TRACK RAIL, A SECOND FIXED FULCRUM SECURELYFASTENED RELATIVE TO AND ON ONE SIDE OF SAID RAIL FOR PIVOTALLYSUPPORTING ONE OF SAID LEVERS, A THIRD FULCRUM LOCATED ON THE OTHER SIDEOF SAID RAIL FOR PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING THE OTHER OF SAID LEVERS, ABRAKING BAR LOCATED ON EACH SIDE OF SAID RAIL AND SUPPORTED BY SAIDLEVERS, AND A MOTOR CONNECTED TO AND SUPPORTED BY SAID LEVERS FORFORCING EACH BRAKING BAR UPWARDLY AND TOWARD SAID RAIL.